I often wonder if one-hit wonder Haddaway harbors any ill will towards Will Ferrell or Chris Kattan. After all, it's the pop singer's mid-Nineties track "What Is Love" that's inextricably linked with the moronic Butabi brothers and their distinctive head-bobbing dance that served as one of Ferrell's breakout characters on "Saturday Night Live." He might've been peeved briefly, but I'm sure the copious royalty checks keep him warm at night. One of the many "SNL"-themed flicks that hit theaters in the Nineties, A Night at the Roxbury is just big, dumb fun, an excuse to stretch a one-note joke out to feature length. But whereas a film like Wayne's World successfully avoided the pitfalls of TV-to-film translation, A Night at the Roxbury flops around a bit, nailing some solid laughs but mostly falling apart by its conclusion.

Starring Ferrell and Kattan as the club-hopping Butabi brothers, A Night at the Roxbury follows the pair through various misadventures -- whether it be palling around with a puffy Richard Grieco, working on opening their own club or buffing up with the help of Craig (Lochlyn Munro), a vaguely psychotic high school classmate. Ferrell and Kattan share a peculiar chemistry all their own, which helps elevate most of the limp setpieces. There are plenty of nifty cameos and appearances -- Molly Shannon, Colin Quinn, Jennifer Coolidge, Chazz Palmintieri, Michael Clarke Duncan, Loni Anderson, Dan Hedaya and Elisa Donovan all pop up throughout the film. As goofy "SNL" comedies go, this one falls somewhere in the middle of the pack; it's not Tommy Boy but it ain't Stuart Saves His Family either.

Previously released in 1999, A Night at the Roxbury is being released again, no doubt to coincide with Blades of Glory hitting store shelves. There's more detail below about the supplements, but those who have the first incarnation probably shouldn't sweat about giving their copy up any time soon.

The Video:

Presented in a serviceable 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, A Night at the Roxbury didn't quite pop like I thought it would in this re-release. The overall picture is a bit washed out, not in a way that makes watching the film difficult but one that's surprising given studios' penchants for sprucing up films on a regular basis. Other than the slightly faded look, the nearly decade-old flick seems to be free from noticeable defect.

The pulsing, thumping soundtrack sounds just fine on the Dolby Digital 5.1 track, with the signature song coming through loud and clear. Dialogue is heard free from distortion or drop-out and an optional Dolby 2.0 stereo track (in either French or English) is included, as are optional English subtitles.

If you're gonna title something a "special collector's edition," you might want to put a little more effort into it than Paramount did. The paltry selection of supplements -- "Score! Reliving 'A Night at the Roxbury'," a 24 minute, 16 second featurette (which features a mix of mostly vintage and a smattering of new interviews with producer Amy Heckerling, Ferrell, Kattan, producer Lorne Michaels, director John Fortenberry, writer Steve Koren, executive producer Robert K. Weiss, club owner Chris Breed, Chazz Palmintieri, Colin Quinn, Gigi Rice, Elisa Donovan, Dan Hedaya, Loni Anderson and Molly Shannon); the nine minute, 11 second featurette "Roxbury Rags: Costume and Fashion Guide" (which features vintage/new interviews with costume designer Mona May, director John Fortenberry, Kattan and Ferrell); the five minute, 17 second featurette "Do That Dance!" (which features new/vinterviews with choreographer Mary Ann Kellogg, executive producer Robert K. Weiss and Kattan) and the eight minute, 54 second "Making the List" (which features interviews with event planner Keith Collins, club owner Chris Breed and club security head Brian Fitzpatrick) -- are on the lame side, never really delivering much in the way of compelling information. It would've been nice to have a commentary track from someone, but I guess everyone involved with the flick is, um, busy or something. Trailers for Blades of Glory, Norbit, the films of Will Ferrell and the films of Eddie Murphy completes the disc.

One of the many "SNL"-themed flicks that hit theaters in the Nineties, A Night at the Roxbury is just big, dumb fun, an excuse to stretch a one-note joke out to feature length. But whereas a film like Wayne's World successfully avoided the pitfalls of TV-to-film translation, A Night at the Roxbury flops around a bit, nailing some solid laughs but mostly falling apart by its conclusion. Rent it.